Tugboat related issues, comments, and opinion.

In Berth 0800, the Second Act Begins

11/7/12 The fuel terminals are slowly opening up more berths for transferring gasoline and heating oil to barges. Limited function is available, vapor recovery is sporadic. Electrical power to pump to barges is extremely limited. Even though more berths are open, few in any are completely operational. It’s downright eerie that the terminals usually brightly lit are dark and spooky with a minimum of lighting available.

As the Nor’easter begins to settle in around us, we are safely and securely moored in Carteret waiting to begin loading. I think it’s safe to say we’ll be here for the duration of this weather event.

We took the long way around Staten Island from Bay Ridge Anchorage this morning and the destruction of the southeastern coast of Staten Island and the lower Arthur Kill was widespread and nearly total. Any exposed marinas were basically wiped away. Their storage yards had boats of all types scattered like a toddler’s toy box. So many boats were perched on the bones of the old piers that line the lower Kills above Perth Amboy. It looks as if they were skewered and up on pikes. Debris, oil sheens and mangled unrecognizable structures were visible all along the lower end. I don’t need to post pictures since you can’t escape the photo record on TV or any of the social media.

11/6/12 Very little refining capacity is in use, the suppliers are mainly relying on pipeline transfers from the Colonial and Buckeye pipelines and off-loading refined cargoes from ships at anchor here in the harbor. After laying at anchor since 0200 on the 3rd, we’re slated to get a loading berth tomorrow morning and commence taking on 105,000 barrels of gasoline for a New England delivery. We’ll be getting underway after things settle down and not before.

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Shows where the bottleneck in the infrastructure is, certainly; you’re taking gasoline from NY to New England. Imagine the horror if the folks in line in NJ realized that there was plenty of gas and no way to get it to the stations quickly.

The black oil scene is pretty sloppy. A few terminals are in the process of opening their repaired docks to start bunkering, and thisis ATB-held 6 oil is being lightered into bunker barges for distribution while the terminals are being patched back together. Poor planning in terms of preparations for the hurricane shutdown has left a significant portion of the harbor’s bunkering fleet holding congealed cold oil that must sit until terminals can cook up some screaming hot product that will blister the tank coatings and make some pumpable cool blends.

Even though we’re in berth to load we are getting it strictly by gravity. For the duration of the storm we’ll be shut down. There isn’t any electrical power for the terminal’s pumps so they press up shore tanks with ships pumping them full and then open the valve so we can take a gravity driven rate of a screaming 2k bph. We’re gonna be a while. Hope you don’t have to chisel that stuff out, (more than a few years ago) I saw some outfits steam from the top down with limited success. I’m sure trying to load hot product through a congealing pipeline ain’t gonna be fun…here’s hoping you can get your truck squared away. I understand that if your policy has comprehensive, it’s covered.

Thanks for the eyewitness report. I moved back onto my boat after Sandy hit. Though it was still attached to it’s mooring it was one thousand feet across the harbor from where I left it the Sunday night before Sandy hit. Though I feel very very lucky since it was still floating with only very minor damage. Many others on the water and on land lost a lot more. I’m back on land and so is the boat for the winter. I’m here watching the snow and rain from the latest Nor’easter. flying by. Hoping for you and the crew to stay safe out there..